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I’m lucky to have a mom who likes to see the same kind of movies that I do. This was pretty much all I could have wanted out of a summer movie. Lots of things exploding and our hero’s almost dying to save everyone. Overall, I really liked this movie. It was very well done and I had high expectations of J.J. Abrams, especially after the first Star Trek. As far as sequels go, this was a good one, admittedly, not as surprising as the first movie but an excellent follow-up. While packing a punch with the action, the movie also wrestles with morals, how far is to far when seeking vengeance, what would one person sacrifice for the good of the many and friendship.

I really enjoy how Chris Pine plays Kirk, he’s cocky and funny and sweet at the same time. Zachary Quinto delivers another fantastic portrayal of Spock. He hits the idiosyncrasies of Spock so well, both his Vulcan side and his Human side and how Spock grapples with the two. Mini Spoiler in the next sentence:

I love how at the end, he totally bucks his Vulcan side and goes full on human to avenge his friend’s death! Watching him duke it out with Khan was fantastic.

Speaking of Khan, what a performance by Benedict Cumberbatch.

I was already enamored with him for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on the BBC series Sherlock. This just sealed the deal. Move over Colin Firth, I have a new favorite British actor. Cumberbatch does such an amazing job playing this character. I hated the character, then I felt bad for him and kind of started to like him, then hated him again. He took me on a bit of a roller coaster tonight. And let’s face it, he’s not hard to look at. I find it funny that both in Sherlock and Star Trek, he was given dark hair, he’s naturally light haired.

Now I know that Khan is a bad dude, if you know the series at all, you know he’s bad. But yes, I was still a bit taken in by his story. I couldn’t help it, he’s such a good actor! And again, to re-iterate, he’s not hard to look at. I read another review by Owen Gleiberman for EW that had this to say about his portrayal of Khan: “He’s played by rising British star Benedict Cumberbatch in a totally original way, with the physicality of a dancer and an eager, puckish sincerity that ingeniously disguises his vengeful mission.” I honestly could not put it better myself, so I’ll credit the original reviewer.

Why was I so taken in you ask? He’s give us a good reason for what he did. Things are not always black and white, good or evil. Sometimes even good, or seemingly good, people do bad things to achieve and end that they feel is justified. But what is right is difficult to distinguish. Another character who we are led to trust, pushes this too far in the movie forcing Kirk, Spock and the others to take drastic measures to bring him down. This also pushes Kirk to examine his own mission of vengeance and realize that seeking it is harmful to himself and those close to him.

Overall, it was a fantastic movie and I’m really glad I got to see it in the theater. Totally kicked off my summer movie watching properly with this one. This will be another one for my dvd collection when it comes out. So I’ll sit here and also hope that they put out a third movie to top of this Star Trek reboot, but only if it’s done as well as this one!

To note, I got to see a trailer for Ender’s Game. I read this book prior to giving it to my Godson for Christmas at the urging of a co-worker. Read this book and then get excited to see the movie like I am!!

So, have you seen Star Trek Into Darkness yet, what do you think of the themes they struggle with?